REVIEW: Frozen on Blu-Ray Combo Pack

If you haven't figured it out by now in the game here at TheTVMom.com, Frozen has quickly become my favorite Disney movie. Sorry Emperor's New Groove, scootch over! I think this is due in part to the new connection I have with the movie, having had all the neat experiences at Disney Animation Studios in February. It's my first major blogger junket, so it'll definitely have a special place in my heart always.

Some of my pictures from Disney Animation Studios!

It's funny thinking back to last December when I pretty literally dragged TV Boy to the movie theatre to see it with me. About fifteen seconds into the actual movie itself, he looked at me with his big brown eyes and said "They're singing. I don't like it." He proceeded to pick THE MOST inconvenient time in the movie to use the bathroom, which at four and a half he can't quite do alone, and I missed the "Let It Go"sequence entirely. That's right... as the mountain came up on the screen and by the first notes of the song, we were running down the aisle to the bathroom. We walked back in only to see Anna on her horse trudging through the snow. Yeah. Thanks, kiddo. (I have made up for it and then some thanks to an inexplicable need to belt out "Let It Go" at the top of my lungs, Broadway style, at least once a day since I got back from L.A. That'll teach the kid to have to pee!) But I digress.

"Hey mommy, I have to go potty!" (Image ©Disney Animation)

Indeed, even TV Boy has warmed up to Frozen (irony!) having the Blu-ray around in the house. Plus, seeing Olaf with Mommy's voice has made him love that adorable snowman even more than hearing him say "watch out for my butt!", a line that has earned high honors by my discernable little critic.

Image © Disney Animation Studios.

The Blu-ray doesn't have nearly as many special features as I was hoping it would. A handful of deleted scenes (which were definitely deleted for a reason), four versions of the "Let It Go" music video (in several languages), a quick featurette with Directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck as they talk about the long lead up to making Frozen (Walt Disney wanted to make the Snow Queen version during his lifetime and there are several concepts in the archives from his exploration of the possibility), and the adorable musical number featuring Josh Gad and Jonathan Groff along with much of the production company about "The Making of Frozen" (preview below).


Also included is the the theatrical short "Get A Horse!", which I wish I had gotten to see in 3D!

Cool movie poster we got as swag!

The Blu-ray Combo Pack includes the movie and features on a Blu-ray disc, a DVD, and a code to download a digital copy of the film, as well as add it to your Disney Movies Anywhere© app on your mobile device of choice. The film is rated PG (which I find odd for an animated film) and is available to purchase TODAY, March 18th.

Image ©Disney Home Entertainment

You can register to win a copy of Frozen on Blu-ray combo pack! Click here to enter! 

Disclosure: I was provided a free copy of the Blu-ray for review purposes as well as a trip to L.A. to cover the release of the Blu-ray. Please see my Disclosure tab for more information. 

REVIEW: Saving Mr. Banks on Blu-ray plus GIVEAWAY!

For all of you who are fans of Mary Poppins or anyone who is a "Dizgeek" or history buff, Saving Mr. Banks is a must-see film. For those who haven't yet seen it, travel back in time to Walt Disney Studios, where Walt (played by Tom Hanks) is determined to get the production rights to P.L. Travers' (played by Emma Thompson) story of Mary Poppins.

Hanks and Thompson as Disney and Travers. Image © Disney

Mrs. Travers is none too persuaded to let go of her precious characters so easily, and the addition of songs written by the Sherman Brothers (played by BJ Novak and Jason Schwartzman) and animation has her ready to board a plane back to England.

Novak and Schwartzman as the Sherman Brothers. Image © Disney

Throughout the film, we are treated to an inside look at the life of P.L. Travers, and her attachment to her father, Travers Goff (played by Colin Farrell), who has a tragic alcohol addiction that is gradually killing him, and on whom her character of Mr. Banks is based.

Annie Rose Buckley as Ginty and Colin Farrell as Travers Goff. Image © Disney.

Mrs. Travers (who, after her father's death, drops her moniker "Ginty" and takes his first name as her surname) isn't keen on their portrayal of Mr. Banks as well as Mary Poppins herself being so lighthearted and charming. She insists on having all discussions about the film recorded--which, interestingly enough, I had the chance to listen to some of her original recordings while on my trip to L.A. back in February! More on that later this week!

Tom Hanks as Walt Disney. Image © Disney.

Tom Hanks' portrayal of Walt Disney was flawless. Watching him, you really feel the weight of Disney's commitment to his films as well as his jovial personality. The attention to detail with the film is outstanding.

Emma Thompson as P.L. Travers. Image © Disney.

I also loved Emma Thompson as Pamela Travers. If anyone could play a haughty British woman, it's Emma Thompson! She manages to strike the perfect balance between pointed disgust with Disney's antics and nostalgic sadness as she remembers her childhood. Speaking of sadness, ladies make sure you have tissues at the ready! Many of my blogger friends and I discussed it as being one of those "ugly cry" movies. It's heartbreaking, and to get the audience to feel so deeply for someone as cold as P.L. Travers is portrayed is a triumph.

Behind the scenes on set. Image © Disney.

The special features included on the Blu-ray, while minimal, are also a little tear-jerking, but that could just be because I got to tour the very same studio lot that on which the film was made. That, and I'm a huge sap. The featurette "The Walt Disney Studios: From Poppins To The Present" takes viewers on a bit of the same tour, showing off the animator offices Disney designed himself to make sure they had the proper light, as well as several points of interest on the lot. It is led by Director John Lee Hancock and features a special appearance by Richard Sherman himself. There is also a fun short video of Mr. Sherman leading the cast and crew in a rousing rendition of "Let's Go Fly A Kite" on their final day of filming. The film is rated PG-13 and is available for purchase tomorrow on March 18th.

Image © Disney Home Entertainment

As a special treat, I've put together a little slideshow of my photos from the awesome D23 tour of the studios, featuring some of the places used in Saving Mr. Banks, as well as many of the locations discussed in the bonus featurette on the Blu-ray, led by our awesome tour guide and D23 Marketing Manager Jeffrey Epstein, seen in the second pic (thanks Jeffrey!). And, of course, I set it to "Let's Go Fly A Kite"!


Disney Studios Tour Feb 2014 by Slidely Slideshow
Finally, to close out my post, my friends at Disney Home Entertainment are providing a copy of Saving Mr. Banks on Blu-ray to give away to one of my lucky readers! Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter and be sure to check out the linky at the bottom for more chances to win from other bloggers on the trip! The contest will run until this Friday, March 21, at midnight. Please see the Giveaway T&C tab for more information.


a Rafflecopter giveaway




UPDATE: My friends at Disney just sent over these fun Saving Mr. Banks-inspired recipes! Enjoy!



Disclosure: I was provided a copy of the Blu-ray for review purposes, as well as a trip to L.A. to cover the release and relevant displays. Please see my Disclosure tab for more information.

#FrozenBluray - "Do you want to BE a snowman?" with GIVEAWAY!

I'm elated! I finally got the video of Olaf with my voice! Like I said before in the post about my experience in the voiceover studio, this was one of my favorite things on this trip (aside from the lovely L.A. weather, of course). I'm so glad I finally get to share it with everyone!

Hey, we've got about the same build:
short and round! LOL!

So, without any further ado, here is ME, Tori The TV Mom as Olaf the snowman in Frozen!

And, for fun, here's what it looked like while I actually did the voice:
Finally, I received confirmation that I get to do a GIVEAWAY of a Frozen Blu-ray Combo Pack, thanks to my friends at Disney Home Entertainment! Check out the Rafflecopter widget below to enter and don't forget to share! The giveaway will run until Midnight Eastern on the 28th! Lots of ways to enter too! (And check out the linky tool at the bottom for even MORE chances to win!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Audio Interview: The AquaBats! SuperShow!

I did it! I have officially created, edited, and posted my first "podcast"-ish audio interview with Jason DeVilliers and Ricky Fallomir from The AquaBats! SuperShow! Check out the video (there is only an image as the background, the real meat is the audio) and let me know if you like this better than reading a boring old article-style interview.

Image courtesy The Hub network.

In all honesty, it took me probably the same amount of time to edit the audio together, record an intro, make an image for the background, and pop all that into iMovie, export it, and upload it to Youtube as it would have to just write it all out... but hey! It's fun, right?

Enjoy! And be sure to check out The AquaBats! SuperShow! on The Hub, Saturdays at 1pm Eastern/10am Pacific!




P.S. I only had one entrant on my Monsuno Giveaway, so CONGRATULATIONS goes out to Ronald Oliver! I will be emailing you shortly to get your mailing information. Thanks for reading and sharing! YOU ROCK! Hope your granddaughter loves it!

Monsuno: Power on DVD, Review and GIVEAWAY!

The Monsuno adventures continue on the new DVD, Monsuno: Power. Five more episodes are included on the new DVD from Shout! Factory, which is a direct sequel to the previous Monsuno: Destiny DVD.

Monsuno: Power on DVD. Image courtesy Shout! Factory.

To see my full review, click over to the Kids' Cartoons page at About.com. As an added bonus, you can WIN THIS DVD! Just leave a comment on this post with why you think you should win, and make sure to include your email address. I will pick a winner on June 10th. Share this post for more entries to win, and just be sure to come back and leave a comment with the link to your share (if you share on a social network, make sure the post is set to "public"). One share per social network, please.

Now, here are some special clips from the DVD to get you excited to win it!


Clip - "You Punks Don’t Know When To Quit"

Clip - "Monsuno Battle!"

Kaijudo DVD WINNER!

Congratulations to Chrissy G. for winning the Kaijudo DVD! Chrissy, check your email :) For those of you who didn't win, stay tuned to the blog. There *might* be another chance to win coming soon! I'm waiting on a returned email from the publisher :)

There's still time to enter!

Have you entered the Giveaway for the Kaijudo DVD yet? There's still time!

Click HERE to go to the post with the entry form! It's easy and there aren't a lot of hoops to jump through! You can earn up to four entries!

And click HERE to go to the review of the DVD on my About.com page!

Image courtesy Hasbro Studios/Shout! Factory.

Kaijudo: Rise of the Duel Masters DVD Review and Giveaway!

Image courtesy Hasbro Studios/Shout! Factory.

I have never been one for the serial marital arts cartoon series, but I have to say, Kaijudo: Rise of the Duel Masters - Creatures Unleashed has made a believer out of me. I'm actually kind of annoyed with myself that I haven't been watching this all along already! It's REALLY GOOD. No, I mean REALLY.

Check out my full review of the DVD at my About.com page!

This new DVD from Hasbro Studios and Shout! Factory doesn't hit the streets until December 4th, but they were kind enough to send me a copy to give away to one of my lucky readers! Enter easily using the Rafflecopter widget below! Contest ends December 4, 2012.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Doc McStuffins WINNER! *Updated with consolation prize!*

Congratulations go out to..........

Image courtesy Walt Disney Studios (c)

Beth R.!

Thanks to everyone who played in my first giveaway! There weren't as many entries as I was hoping for, but I'm sure those will come with time. Stay tuned for more fun giveaways!

Beth, check your email! :) 

The rest of you who didn't win, I have a fun consolation prize for you and your children! Click below for some fun Doc McStuffins activity sheets that you can print for free!

Doc McStuffins: Friendship is the Best Medicine DVD Giveaway!

Image courtesy Walt Disney Studios (c)

If you're a loyal reader, you already know how much I love Doc McStuffins, Disney Junior's most popular new series. It's such a cute show and it's so different than any preschool-directed cartoon on the air right now. But here's the exciting part: Disney has given me the chance to host my first giveaway here on the blog! "Doc McStuffins: Friendship is the Best Medicine" releases on Disney DVD with Digital Copy on August 21st, but you can win a copy here from The TV Mom before it even hits shelves!

The new DVD features five shows with two episodes each. Plus it includes a cute activity book that is reminiscent of Doc's "Big Book of Boo-Boos", complete with character stickers. You will also get access to Disney's Digital Copy so you can take Doc with you wherever you go!

I've made it super simple to enter too... just fill out the Rafflecopter info below! The only mandatory entry is that you leave a comment on this post, using the comment form at the bottom, telling me which Doc McStuffins character is your favorite and then fill out the widget letting me know you did it. Personally, my favorite is Stuffy the Dragon, mostly because I know he's voiced by the former "Cousin Oliver" from The Brady Bunch. Ha!

Here's the "fine print" (which isn't going to be very fine because I don't feel like changing the font size): Open to US and Canada residents only. The contest runs from today until midnight on August 12th. I will then choose a winner and email them. If they don't respond within 24 hours of the time the email was sent, I will choose a new winner. I'm only being so strict with that because I want you to be the very first to have a copy of the DVD, and in order to do that and get it mailed in time, I need to know where to send it! All you have to do is follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget below. Answer the question by using the comment form *at the end of this post* (not in the widget), and be sure to leave your email address! Please note, the comment will not show up right away, so if you see the "comment will appear after moderation" message at the top of the page after you hit submit, it's in. The other entries will unlock after you do the first one. You have the opportunity to earn a total of five entries into the contest.

So that's it! Have fun with it! And good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway